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Introduction HONG KONG, COLONIAL SOCIETY
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
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I N T R O D U C T I O N HONG KONG , COLONIA L SOCIET Y HongKon gwasa Chinacoas tcity.I twasb yan dlarg eaChinesecity .I twasa metropolis.Bu taboveall,itwasacolony. HongKon gbecam ea Britis hcolon yfro m1842 .I toutlaste dmos tBritis h colonies.Post-SecondWorldWarBritai nlostitsworldpowerstatusandgaveup mostofit scolonies;i nthepursuitofanopendoorint oEurope ,itgaveupeve n theBritishCommonwealth.ButcolonialstatuslingeredoninHongKongbecause, asi twa ssai di nth e1960s ,Chin atolerate dit ,Britai nsa wn oalternativ et o continuingan dth eHon gKon gpeopl ewante dit .B ythe1980s ,tha tsituatio n changed. Evenatit smightiest,Britai nha dn osocialpolic yo nHon gKon gassuch.It appliedBritis hjusticeandperiodicallyenforce dstandardsthathadbeentriedi n Britain,whethe ro rno tthe yha dsucceede di nBritai no rwer esuite dt oHon g Kong.I ti shar dt ounderstan dwh yth eHon gKon ggovernmen twoul dhav e promoteda Housin gSociet ytogethe rwit ha Resettlemen tDepartmen ti nth e 1950sunles son erealize stha ttheBritis hhom egovernmen tsough ttoprovid e housingi nBritai nthroug hth ecombine deffort so fbuildin gsocietie san dloca l councils.Itisalsohardtounderstandwhyi nthe1970 sHongKongshouldhav e adopteda sudde nspat eo flabou rlegislatio nunti lon esee stha ta Labou r governmenthadcometopowerinLondonandthatBritishMembersofParliament andtheBritis hpressinthe1960shadbeenpaintingHon gKongasasweatshop. HongKon gpeopl edi dno tdemandhousing ,socialwelfare ,legislation ,police , notevenuniversaleducation;but,inpost-warHongKong,theyhadbeengranted byact so fbenevolen tgovernment .Onc egranted ,however ,man yHon gKon g peopledelightedinhavingtheseprovisions.Inthisway,thebenevolentprovisions ofth eHon gKon ggovernment ,togethe rwit hothe rprovision stha twer eles s benevolent,wovetheirwayint oHon gKon gsociety. Asuperimpose dgovernmen twa sthemar ko fthecolonia lstatus .Bu tther e musthavebeenasocietyonwhichi twassuperimposed. 2 Society Society an d th e Real m o f Politic s To describe Hong Kong society, one must return to the fundamentals of the concept. The concept 'society ' wa s a creation o f the Europea n Enlightenment , create d t o represent a movement that informe d king s that their subjects shoul d suitabl y b e governed b y th e law s o f natur e rathe r tha n thei r will . Subsequen t t o th e Enlightenment, the concept went through a strange history. Because no government was willing to acknowledge that it s will ha d bee n impose d i n total ignoranc e of the demand s o f nature , government s hav e take n variou s mean s t o ensur e tha t nature an d polic y migh t meet. Dictator s argue that their theories tell them wha t nature might demand; democrats say that they would as k the people. The theory of benevolen t governmen t t o whic h bot h subscrib e argue s tha t th e tes t o f th e theory lie s ultimately i n whether i t works. Nature bein g a silent partne r t o this relationshi p betwee n government s an d their people, whether governments and their policies work can...